Justice Will Prevail, Or Not
by UnderdogAngel
Summary: Being the erratic escapades of the Death Note gang as they are being written in my story "Wreck of the Day". Rated for shinigamis, mild language, randomness, and Death Note. In the style of LatteJazz's "Dilly Dally Shilly Shally". Enjoy!
1. When A Shinigami Laughs

**I had the idea for this after I watched the episode in which Light meets the fianceé of the FBI agent he killed -Ray something or other xD Anyway, when this woman gives Light a fake name, Ryuk starts laughing. Light figured out shortly after that she had given him an alias, not a real name. Ryuk was laughing because, with the shinigami eyes, he could see her real name and all that, so that's how he knew she was lying.**

**So then it got me thinking... Is Light more paranoid now when he's talking to people? And what if Ryuk started laughing while he was talking to someone? Wouldn't he get suspicious?**

**This is the product of those musings. Hope you at least find it somewhat entertaining X] Also, there are a couple girls in the last part. They're my OCs that I plan on using in a longer _Death Note_ story ("Wreck of the Day"). Perhaps this story is just all of their little side adventures not mentioned in the main story...? Anyway, they're called K and S. They're two detectives that have helped L in the past (hence their similiar names), and are close friends of his. Well, as close as anyone can really get to L, at any rate.**

**If there is any moral to this story, it is this: When a shinigami laughs...always ask him why he's laughing before you do something drastic that you may regret.**

******So, originally, this was a oneshot. Then my friend (who is S) and I (K) started spitballing some other ideas and scenarios, and it turned into a series! ^.^ Also, the amazing LatteJazz's story "Dilly Dally Shilly Shally" (Being the myriad misadventures of Cloud & Co.) inspired me to do this story, which is along the same lines in format.**  


**Anywhoo, enjoy the randomness ^.^**

**-I. When A Shinigami Laughs-**

Light walked down the hallway of the school, passing a few small groups students as he went.

Some students glanced at Light as he went by, others (girls, mostly) stared at him, and others still didn't even notice his presence at all.

Inside, Light was grinning evilly and thinking about all the students that passed. _Some day,_ he thought, _they will all know my name! And they will all look upon me as the savior of this world!_

These were the sorts of thoughts that had filled his mind so much since discovering the notebook called the Death Note when it was dropped into the human world by his shinigami, Ryuk. And since he had conceived of his master plan to rid the world of all criminals, yada, yada, yada, you know the story (I hope).

No one but Light could see Ryuk floating behind him, following him everywhere he went like a blue-skinned, big-eyed, fanged, winged shadow. No one could hear Ryuk's raspy, creepy voice -which had lost it's creepiness to Light. Because Ryuk would never shut up. Especially when Ryuk knew that Light couldn't respond to his comments and questions.

_I swear,_ Light thought, blocking out yet another of Ryuk's rants,_ if it were possible to kill shinigami with the Death Note, I'd end his life in a second._

"So, how many names are you gonna write today?" Ryuk asked. "Got some in mind already? Some new ways that they should die?"

Light kept a calm expression on his face, willing himself to continue to act like there _wasn't_ a shinigami floating next to him and asking him the same questions he asked him everyday.

"Excuse me."

Ryuk stopped talking, and turned with Light to see who had spoken.

A woman approached Light. She didn't look old, but she wasn't young either. She could've been in her thirties, maybe. She had short, black hair that hit just at her chin. Red glasses framed her dark brown eyes. In the heels she was wearing, she was able to look Light sqaure in the eyes. She was wearing a business suit of sorts.

_A teacher, maybe?_ Light thought.

"Light Yagami, right?"

"That's me," Light said, still unsure of who this woman was.

"Ah, so glad I found you. I heard that you're one of the top students in the area -maybe even in all of Japan-, and I just had to meet you and introduce myself. I'm a professor here. I'm Ms. Mitsuko Nakamura." She held out her hand for Light to shake.

Immediately following the woman's introduction, Ryuk burst out laughing, nearly doubled over where he was floating in the air.

Light resisted the urge to turn and glare at the creature, or to yell at him to shut up, and merely smiled politely at Ms. Nakamura. "It's so nice to meet you," he said, shaking her hand.

Ryuk continued laughing.

_Geez, doesn't he ever breathe?_ Light wondered. _I guess gods of death don't really need to breathe, do they? It'd be sort of oxymoronic._

"I look forward to having you in my class at some point, young man," Ms. Nakamura said with a smile.

"And I look forward to having you as a teacher, ma'am," Light replied, still keeping his composure through all of Ryuk's laughing.

"Well, I won't keep you from getting home," Ms. Nakamura said. "I've got to get home myself. I'll see you around, Yagami."

"Goodbye, Ms. Nakamura."

Even as she was walking away, Ryuk didn't break his rhythm of laughter, which had now grown hysterical.

Light glanced around the hallway, and, seeing it was empty (except for Ms. Nakamura at the end of the hall), spun to face Ryuk.

"What is your problem?" he hissed.

Ryuk didn't reply, but just went on with his laughter.

Light glared at Ryuk, thinking. _The last time Ryuk laughed like this..._ he mused. _That ex-FBI agent... Fake name... She knew. She knew how Kira killed._

Light gasped a little. "Ryuk, does she know something?" He lowered his voice even more. "Does she know I'm Kira?"

More laughter was all the reply Light got.

Light sighed, exasperated. "I can't take any chances. I've come too far in this to lose to some teacher." He shoved his hand into his blazer pocket, searching for the page out of the Death Note he always took with him. "Well, I'll fix this..." He pulled a pen from his other pocket, and quickly wrote down the professor's name.

_No need to get creative with this,_ he thought, folding the paper back up and putting it and the pen back in his pockets. _She just needs to be out of the way._

He looked at his watch, waiting for the few seconds that needed to pass before-

A cry of pain shattered the stillness of the hallway, and a grin spread across Light's lips. He saw in his mind's eye the professor collapsing, clutching her chest as the heart attack claimed her life.

"There," he said to himself. "All according to plan. My identity is still hidden." He looked at Ryuk when he didn't reply.

To Light's surprise...Ryuk was still laughing.

Light blinked at him. "Okay, enough of this crap. Ryuk, _why_ are you laughing so much?"

Ryuk suddenly stopped and looked around, as if just realizing that he and Light were in the hallway alone. "Huh? Hey, wait... Did you just kill that woman?"

"Yes..." Light replied in a "duh" way.

"Why?"

Light rolled his eyes. "Because you were just...floating there and laughing like a maniac! I had to do something! I got suspicious!"

"Oh..." Ryuk said, trailing his eyes up and down the hall and clacking his claw-like nails together.

"What is it?" Light asked, still annoyed. He didn't like using the Death Note on random people. He was out to kill the bad guys. But he couldn't risk anyone getting in his way until his mission was accomplished. The fact that Ryuk had basically left him with no choice but to kill that woman made him even more annoyed.

"Uh, well, uh..." Ryuk stuttered. "You see, uh... I was laughing because..."

"Yes?" Light asked, just wanting Ryuk to get to the point.

"Because...she smelled like apples."

Light stared at Ryuk for several long moments in silence.

A long string of profanities started running through his head. Only one made it out of his mouth.

"Damn it!" he hissed, slapping his hand over his eyes. "You've got to be kidding me..."

Ryuk shrugged. "Look, I told you. I'm a shinigami. And we shinigami _lovveee_ our apples."

"So you crack up every time you smell them?" Light snapped.

"Well, they _are_ like crack to us, if you think about it. And I can't help it! They're just so full of love and joy...and joyness..."

Light shook his head, feeling a massive headache coming on.

_Of all the shinigami's in the death world,_ he thought, _I get stuck with the one who's a total_ moron.

**;;;;;**

_-Meanwhile, at the Kira Task Force Headquarters (a.k.a. L's Current Hotel)-_

One of the task force members walked into the room, holding a report in his hands.

"Ryuzaki," he said.

L, K, and S looked up from the papers and books in front of them. Or, in L's case, from his cup of tea.

"There's been another heart attack victim in the area."

L sighed and set his cup down. "Kira strikes again..."

"But..."

The three sleuths looked up expectantly.

"This one is...strange. Seems almost...unrelated, you might say."

"Why do you say that?" S asked.

"Well, the victim wasn't a criminal. She was a college professor."

"Hmm..." L mused.

"Information on the victim?" K asked.

"She had no record, no complaints, not even so much as a parking ticket. It's odd..."

"Hmm," L hummed again. "I find it quite odd that Kira would target someone who, to society, is a virtual nobody."

"Then again, Kira isn't exactly a _normal_ murderer, is he?" K asked.

"You've got a point," S said.

"There's something mentioned in the report that I thought was...interesting, though," the man said.

"What's that?" L asked.

"It mentions that she was wearing...some sort of apple-based perfume."

"What?" K asked in disbelief. "Let me see that."

The man handed her the report, and she looked it over, flipping pages. "That _is_ weird," she said.

"Why would they mention something as inconsequential as that?" S wondered aloud.

"Hmm," L hummed a third time.

All eyes in the room were on him, everyone wondering if this information about the woman's perfume was some sort of key that would take them to a lead.

"Well...isn't that interesting," L said. "Perhaps Kira just doesn't like apples... Or this could've been a real heart attack. Non-Kira-related. Let's move on."

The whole room heaved a sigh, disappointed.

"Killing someone over apples?" S said. "How weird..."

"Or perhaps paranoid," K said. "Kira will kill anyone that gets in his way. Maybe the smell of apples brings back bad memories from his childhood or something, so he hates them. And focusing on his hate of apples is distracting him from his twisted goal or whatever." K smirked. "Shall I wear my apple perfume and see if he kills me next?"

"Don't even think about it," L said, picking up his tea cup from the coffee table in front of them.

K smiled at L. "Aw, you don't want me dead, L?"

"Of course not," he said.

Hope flickered in K's blue-green eyes.

"We need you on this case."

Now she rolled her blue-green eyes, and sighed heavily.

"And it's Ryuzaki," L corrected.

"What sort of name is that anyway?" S asked.

"Yeah," K agreed. "Why don't you change it to something cool, like...like Kyo or...or Tamaki?"

"Because those are pathetic names that I will never utter, let alone name myself," L said, taking a sip of his tea.

"Whatever, L," K said.

He gave her a look over the rim of his cup.

"Whaddaya gonna do to stop me?" she asked, grinning.

L rolled his eyes. _There are pros and cons to having these two around,_ he thought. _Pros, we're closer to finding Kira. Cons, we're not closer to finding Kira._

_It's all a system of balances. I'm sure we'll find Kira...eventually._

**I happen to have apple body spray, so that was also an inspiration for this. I just hope Light wouldn't kill me because I wore it! O.o**

**So Light did something drastic that he shouldn't have. *Tsk, tsk* Perhaps he'll know better next time. Then again, this **_**is**_** Light we're talking about. So maybe he wouldn't. XD**

**So there it is! Let me know what you think! More to come soon!**

**(And K and S **_**will**_** be appearing in a longer story, as well as in further chapters of this. I know their parts were short in this one, but I hope you liked them anyway! ^.^)**

**(P.S.: Did you notice the names of my favorite characters from other animes? ^.^ Seemed like something L would say in response to those names hahaha)**


	2. Your Moosey Fate

**Woo! Finally got to work on chapter 2! O.o _Eh_, the rhyming... Anyway-**

**Thanks to ExplodingPotatoes for your review! hahaha It just really seemed like something that L would say to any name other than his own, or one that he suggested. L's just like that xD**

**It's a well-known fact among my friends that S (or the girl S is based on, at any rate) and I (K) love a certain cartoon show that now only plays in re-runs. We basically just watch it to hear one certain character talk, but I digress.**

**We were watching the episode in which L and Light create a reply video to the 2nd Kira's message that was broadcast on Sakura TV. So my friend and I started talking about what we'd do on a Kira Reply Video (as we call it). And so this story was born. (Oh, by the way, the episode I'm referring to is number 12, "Love". Most of the beginning dialogue is directly taken from that episode. And I don't own Death Note or any of the characters besides K and S.)**

**Enjoy the madness ^.^**

**-II. Your Moosey Fate-**

The Kira Investigation Team had just finished watching the second video from the fake Kira. And Ryuzaki (a.k.a. L) had had his scary little outburst and began questioning the existence of shinigami.

"Listen to yourself!" Light said. "Of course shinigami don't exist!"

His own shinigami, Ryuk, chuckled from where he was floating behind him.

Kimiko (a.k.a. K) shrugged a little. "You may be right," she said to Light. "But, Ryuzaki, didn't you say that Kira already sent you a message suggesting that shinigami were real?"

(Kimiko had given up on "forgetting" to call L Ryuzaki, since it seemed not to be bothering him too much anymore. Now it was just Ryuzaki like everyone else. She thought it rather boring, but oh, well.)

"Yeah," Suki (a.k.a. S) said, nodding. "Through those prisoners he killed?"

"Yes, he did," Ryuzaki said, looking at them.

"So, based on that fact, perhaps we're dealing with the same person after all?" Yagami said. "That would definitely explain why we're hearing the same words."

"I don't think so," Light said. "If this was the same person, it's highly unlikely he would've responded to our video in the first place."

Light was, of course, referring to the video they'd made in reply to the 2nd Kira's first message, making it seem like it was from the real Kira.

"And why would he agree to let L live after going to all the trouble of getting him to appear on TV?"

Ryuzaki's pupils returned to their normal size as he gave Light a questioning look.

"The real Kira wants him dead, so it doesn't make sense."

"Maybe there's some other connection between the real one and this new guy," Aizawa suggested.

Ryuzaki pinched the bridge of his nose between two fingers, sighing.

"They could've already met, and decided to use the word 'shinigami' as a way to confuse us."

"No, I'd say that's unlikely," Ryuzaki said, standing from the floor and setting his chair back upright again.

"I agree," Kimiko said, nodding.

"It's like Light said," Suki said. "If the two Kira's were connected, I don't think the fake would be so willing to give up on his plan to kill L."

"Which suggests that the copycat must have his own agenda," Kimiko said.

"And is acting independently of the first," Ryuzaki said. "I believe his actual motivation is to meet the original."

"I think you're all right," Light said. "It seems he's acting out of his own interest in Kira." He folded his arms over his chest. "The word 'shinigami' could very well be some reference to their killing power. Saying 'We can confirm our identities by showing our shinigami to each other' probably means that they'd cofirm their identities by somehow demonstrating their ability to kill."

"Yes, that's it!" Suki said, snapping her fingers.

"Based on their messages," Ryuzaki said, "we can assume that the word 'shinigami' must hold some other meaning that only the real Kira and the 2nd Kira are aware of."

"Now...we just need to convince this copycat to tell us what that is," Kimiko mused, already thinking of plans.

"So would you respond and force him to be more specific?" Light asked. "We have to be careful how we handle this. We can't make it too obvious that we're asking. Otherwise, he'll know we're not Kira.

"Hmm," Ryuzaki hummed. "I would say that, for now, it might be better to just leave it up to the two Kiras...but..."

"But?" Kimiko asked.

He looked at her. "I'm curious -and a little nervous- about what the 2nd Kira may do if he doesn't receive a reply from the real Kira right away."

"You think the fake one might send another message, revealing something else about their killing powers to pressure Kira into a meeting?" she asked.

"Precisely," Ryuzaki replied.

"But wouldn't that just help us?" Suki asked.

"It may and it may not," Ryuzaki said. "So far, everything has seemed to be in a code of some sort. Another message from the fake Kira may only prove to confuse us more. And that's something we certainly do not need." He looked at Suki and Kimiko. "Could I entrust you two to make another reply to the fake Kira?"

"Huh?" the two asked.

"Why not have Light do it again?" Kimiko asked.

"Yeah, it seemed like the message he did really fooled the 2nd Kira," Suki said.

"Yes, I am well aware of that," Ryuzaki said. "But weren't you two saying just last night how you're not feeling like you're contributing enough, and that you feel bored at times?"

They both grinned.

"Well, that was before we discovered Netflix Instant Play," Kimiko said.

"Mm-hmm!" Suki said, nodding in agreement.

Ryuzaki sighed. "At any rate... Can you two handle it?"

The girls looked at each other, shrugged, then looked back at Ryuzaki.

"Sure we can," Suki said.

"Just leave it to us!" Kimiko said, giving him a thumbs-up.

"Then I suggest that the two of you get started right away," Ryuzaki said.

"Roger!" And the two scampered off to their room to begin scripting the next reply message to the fake Kira.

And to figure out how to make the voice filter make them sound like the "Kira" Light had played.

**;;;;;**

"You _did_ send the video in to the station, right?" Ryuzaki asked Kimiko.

"Of course we did," she replied.

Ryuzaki shook his head. "I still don't see why you wouldn't let me review the script or the video before you sent it in."

"What, you don't trust us?" she asked, grinning.

"Are you honestly asking me that question?" he replied, picking up a cup of coffee.

She laughed softly, shaking her head. She looked at the clock as Suki came over to the couch and Light came in the room. Kimiko gasped a little. "The news is starting!" she sang.

She bounded over to the TV and turned it on, sitting in front of it in childlike anticipation.

Suki crossed over to her and sat next to her, leaning back against the coffee table.

Light stepped closer, standing behind the couch Ryuzaki was sitting on.

The commercial break ended and the news station's logo appeared on the screen.

"_Breaking news,_" the anchor said. "_We've received another video from the _real_ Kira! The anonymous individual has again asked us, as well as several other stations, to broadcast it. Again, we want to inform you that the NPA has authorized us to show you this message._

_We will now play the latest Kira video._"

The anchor disappeared, the Kira logo the team had created appearing in his place.

"_This is the real Kira, responding to the person who has been pretending to be me,_" Kimiko's warped voice said from the TV. "_I understand that you want us to meet, and that you want proof of my identity. It seems that you are willing to cooperate with me -a good choice on your part. But I feel that I need to warn you of something. Should you be so careless with the words you say in your messages again, you will not only fail in meeting me, but I will see to it that you will meet your..._"

Suddenly, Suki's warped voice came from the TV. She was in the background, almost whispering. She sounded...excited about something.

"_Moosey fate! Moosey fate!_" she chanted hopefully.

Kimiko spoke again. "_...Your moosey fate!_"

Suki laughed, pleased, and then both girls broke into maniacal laughter.

Light and Ryuzaki stared at the screen, dumbfounded.

The news anchor appeared again. He stared off-screen, clearly watching the video along with the rest of the Kanto region (and probably most of Japan...and possibly other parts of the world as well). He cleared his throat nervously, adjusting his tie. He turned back to face the camera.

"_And, uh... We'll be right back after this short break._"

An ice cream commerical started playing, and Kimiko and Suki grinned at each other. Kimiko held up her fist, and Suki nodded and bumped her fist against Kimiko's. The two then turned to look at Ryuzaki and Light.

Ryuzaki was still holding his cup, frozen in mid-slurp.

Light just blinked at the screen, unmoved from where he was leaning on the back of the couch. He was the first to break the awkward silence.

"What the hell was that?"

The girls continued grinning.

"That had nothing to do with Kira at all!"

"Of course it did," Suki said in her "duh" tone. "We addressed the issues the 2nd Kira presented."

Light raised an eyebrow at her. "'Your moosey fate'? The hell does that mean?"

"No need to curse so much, Light," Suki said, shrugging. "You need to learn to chill out."

Suki didn't know it, but that was a lot to ask of someone bent on creating and becoming the god of a new world. That phrase had probably left his vocabulary the moment he'd picked up the Death Note.

"It's sort of your own fault, y'know," Kimiko said, pointing at Ryuzaki.

He blinked at her.

"I mean, what did you expect it to be like after watching the entire series of _Invader Zim_?"

"_Invader Zim_?" Ryuzaki asked, lowering his cup.

Kimiko stared at him, mouth agape. "You've never heard of _Invader Zim_? !"

"Uh..." was all he said.

"Boy, have you been missing out!" Kimiko jumped up from the floor, ran over to the couch, grabbed Ryuzaki's hand, and started dragging him away. "Come on! It's time you learned a little something about invading Earth."

Ryuzaki looked at Suki pleadingly, but she just shrugged and waved at him.

He looked at Light. "If I'm not back in a half-hour, call 911."

"Got it," Light said, nodding.

Kimiko closed the door, and her voice faded until they couldn't hear it anymore.

Light turned to Suki, who had now stood from the floor. "So...what _does_ 'moosey fate' mean?"

"Oh, come on!" Suki said, shaking her head. "Everybody knows that mini-moose will take over the world!"

"Uh... Mini-moose?"

"Do I have to educate you, too?"

"No, no, no, no," he said, waving his hands in front of him. He didn't want to meet the same fate as Ryuzaki had.

_Hmm_, he thought. _Maybe_ _Ryuzaki's meeting his "moosey fate" right now... You never can tell with Kimiko. Maybe I should just go call 911 and have some paramedics on standby... I mean, just in case._

**;;;;;**

Misa sat on her bed, looking at the TV. She felt very confused.

She turned to her shinigami. "Hey, Rem?"

"Yes?" Rem replied. She turned and looked at the human girl, who had more blankness in her eyes than usual.

Misa blinked at Rem for a few moments. Then she asked her the question uppermost in her mind. "What's a moose?"

**I also don't own **_**Invader Zim**_** xD**

**Yes. My friend and I discovered that the first volume of **_**Invader Zim **_**is on instant on Netflix. We went a little crazy with it, and...yeah.**

**If you're wondering who said the line the Suki said on the video ("Moosey fate! Moosey fate!"), it was GIR (!), the best character, in our opinion ^.^ You should go look up pics of him if you don't know who he is. HE'S SO KAWAII! (Oh, and Kimiko's lead-in to the line about moosey fate was based on the line Zim says that leads into Gir's line. I've never actually seen the episode where that dialogue takes place, so I was just guessing, heh.)**

**Any thoughts? Comments? Let me know! More to come soon! ^.^**


	3. Concealer

**ExplodingPotatoes, THANK YOU for reviewing! ^.^ You SHOULD feel special! heehee Yesh...moosey fate... We couldn't resist xD Because you are so nice and asked for more, I am granting your request :)**

**This chapter is based on a conversation S and I (K) had about the bags under L's eyes. He must be **_**very**_** sleep-deprived to have under-eye rings like that! Who's with me? I mean, come on! But he's still uber-kawaii regardless x3**

**To anyone else who may be reading this, it would mean a lot to me if you reviewed! They really make my day, even if they're short :) (Thanks again, ExplodingPotatoes!)**

**Enjoy the manic-ness ^.^**

**-III. Concealer-**

Kimiko and Suki peeked around the corner, looking at their target -Ryuzaki. He was sitting unsuspectingly in the chair in front of the TV, munching on a piece of cake.

"You got it?" Suki whispered.

"In my pocket," Kimiko answered.

"Are we ready to proceed, then?"

"Yes, but I think we should do so with caution. We don't want to alarm the target, or give any indication of our true intentions. Any little thing might tip him off."

Suki nodded at her partner. "Right."

"Uh...what are you two doing?"

The two slueths looked up at the latest addition to the Kira Task Force, Light. They smiled innocently up at him.

"What makes you sound so suspicious, Light?" Kimiko asked.

"Is it right to automatically assume that we're up to something?" Suki chimed in.

Light raised an eyebrow at them. He'd dubbed the both of them "maniacs" and "insane" after the Kira Reply Video Incident (that was still not discussed among the team members). He knew full well that it was right to assume they were being sneaky. Especially when they were hiding behind a corner looking at Ryuzaki.

"I know what you're thinking," Kimiko said.

"Oh?" Light asked, somewhat curious to see if she really knew or not.

"You're thinking about the whole video thing, right?"

Surprise flickered across Light's face, but he stayed otherwise emotionless.

Kimiko grinned. "Well, we're not up to anything like that, so you have no reason to worry!"

"Now if you plan on alerting Ryuzaki over there, I'm afraid we'll have to incapacitate you," Suki warned.

Light didn't doubt they could do it. He also knew that they had enough knowledge of criminals' minds that they could kill him and make it look like an accident.

Suki smiled, thinking that she'd scared Light enough to keep him quiet.

"So...what _are_ you up to?" Light asked.

"You'll see..." Kimiko sang quietly. "Ready?" she asked Suki.

"Whenever you are," her cohort replied.

"Then I'm going in." Kimiko pulled something from her pocket and quickly handed it to Suki -so quickly that Light couldn't tell what it was. A pen, maybe? What would they be doing with a pen?

Kimiko stood from the "hiding place", and nonchalantly walked over to the couch next to Ryuzaki's chair. She rested her elbows on the back of the couch, leaning forward. "Whatcha watching?" she asked.

_Honestly,_ Light thought, _if these girls were actresses, they'd blow everybody else away! You'd never suspect Kimiko had a plan up her sleeve walking over there and asking that question like that!_

It was true -Kimiko was acting far calmer than usual. It didn't escape Ryuzaki's notice, but he didn't comment on it right away.

"A crime drama of some sort," Ryuzaki replied, taking another bite of cake.

_What else?_ Kimiko thought in an "Of course" way.

She exhaled, looking at the TV. Actually, it seemed she was looking right through it.

Ryuzaki looked at her as he swallowed his bite. "You seem...off today," he said.

"Oh?" she asked, only briefly glancing at him. "Do I?"

"Yes," he said. "Usually you're bouncing around and annoying everyone. Is something wrong?"

Kimiko looked over her shoulder at Suki, and winked.

Suki replied with a thumbs-up.

Light stood by silently, now intriguied at what their plan could possibly be. He was so curious, in fact, that he went to hide where Suki was hiding. He didn't want to risk messing their plan up.

Kimiko turned back to staring through the TV and shrugged. "Not really. I'm just...worried about something."

"Do you mind if I ask what you're worried about?"

Now she turned and looked at Ryuzaki, as if she were contemplating whether or not to tell him what she was thinking about or not. She stood from where she'd been leaning, and walked around so she was in front of Ryuzaki. She scooted his coffee cup to the side, and sat down on the coffee table, resting her chin in the hands, staring at Ryuzaki.

He continued to eat his cake, only slower now. He watched Kimiko cautiously, wondering what on earth was going through her head. Then thinking that maybe he didn't want to know.

Kimiko dragged the silence on for as long as she could. She just sat and blinked. And blinked some more, looking pensive.

"Ryuzaki?"

"...Yes?" he asked carefully.

Kimiko blinked for a couple more seconds. "Are you getting enough sleep?"

Now he blinked at her in slight confusion. "What?"

"Well, the bags under your eyes. Someone on a regular sleep schedule doesn't have big, dark circles under their eyes."

Ryuzaki cleared his throat, lowering his cake plate. "I assure you, your concern is unnecessary. I get all the sleep I need. I'm perfectly fine." He looked at her. "Why this sudden worrying spell?" he asked. "You've known for quite a while now about my not-so-normal sleep patterns."

"I know," she said. "It just seems like the circles are getting darker now."

"Hmm?" Ryuzaki asked, touching a couple fingers just under his left eye. He looked at Kimiko again. "...Why do you care so much about this?"

She actually blushed, and even Kimiko herself didn't know if she was acting or not. "Never mind that. Suki and I think we've found a solution to your problem."

"Really?" Ryuzaki asked, bracing himself for Suki to come in with some sort of under-eye-circle vacuum or something.

"Yep." Kimiko leaned around Ryuzaki and signaled to Suki.

Suki nodded and stood, walking over to stand next to Kimiko. "Say hello to our solution," Suki said, holding up what Light had thought was a pen.

Ryuzaki stared at the shiny round tube. "...What is it?"

Kimiko took the tube from Suki and uncapped it. "It's perfectly harmless!" She twisted the bottom, and the end of a skin-colored stick of...something appeared.

Ryuzaki was already feeling afraid.

"We promise, it won't burn or anything," Suki said, crossing her heart.

"I use it myself," Kimiko said, trying to reassure Ryuzaki of their good intentions.

"But...what is it?"

"I have to say I'm wondering the same thing," Light said, walking closer. "What is that?"

Kimiko and Suki gave Ryuzaki and Light "Come on. Seriously?" looks.

"You guys have never seen this before?" Kimiko asked.

The two guys shook their heads.

"Light, you've got two girls living with you! You've never seen your sister or your mom use something like this?" Suki asked, pointing to the mysterious magic solution in Kimiko's hand.

"Like I pay _that_ much attention to my sister's and mom's makeup practices?" he asked.

Suki sighed.

Ryuzaki looked at the tube fearfully. "...Makeup?"

Kimiko rolled her eyes and shot Light a look. "It is _not_ makeup!" She smiled sweetly at Ryuzaki. "It's just some concealer!"

"...Concealer?"

"And you call yourself the world's greatest detective." Kimiko shook her head. "Ryuzaki, all you've gotta do it sit still and close your eyes. I'll take care of the rest."

"And I'll supervise," Suki said, smiling widely.

Ryuzaki's eyes widened and shook his head, the black spikes of his hair flurrying about wildly.

"Come on," Kimiko cajoled.

Ryuzaki just shook his head again.

"Please?"

Nope.

Her gaze hardened slightly. "L...?"

He shook his head even more vigorously.

Kimiko's look now edged on a glare. She turned and calmly handed the stick of concealer to Suki, then turned back to Ryuzaki. She stood and leaned forward, her hands on the armrests of the chair Ryuzaki was stuck in.

He leaned as far away from her as he could, wishing he could just run for it.

"Say yes," she said, her voice soft and strong and threatening all at the same time, "...or I'll use your full name."

Ryuzaki's eyes widened. "You wouldn't."

"Try me."

Ryuzaki might've been able to come up with a way to get out of that particular form of extortion (like the fact that he knew Kimiko's real name, too), but his fear was hindering his reasoning skills. He knew that Kimiko and Suki were not ones to be trifled with. Especially Kimiko when it came to himself. She could easily take him out and knock him unconscious. (He knew from experience. But it'd only happened once. Okay, maybe three or four times...)

Light, who'd also heard Kimiko's threat, felt gleeful hope. L's real name? That was something he desperately needed if he was going to stay Kira and create the new world he wanted. Would it really be so easy to figure it out? Was a little makeup all it took to break the great L?

"L..." Kimiko said.

He swallowed, averting his eyes from her glare. He gritted his teeth, gripping the armrests so hard that his knuckles started turning white. He looked very much like he was in pain.

"L La-"

A breath hissed out through his teeth. "Fine," he said quietly.

Kimiko's glare disappeared and was instantly replaced with a look of pure glee. She laughed. "Yay! Thanks, Ryuzaki!"

Light grunted frustratedly in his head. _Damn_, he thought. _So close._

"Just sit back, relax, and we'll have those under-eye circles gone in no time!" Kimiko promised.

"You sound like one of those shopping channel ladies," Suki said. She plastered a fake smile on her face and held up the concealer. "It'll make it look like you have no eyes!"

"What? !" Ryuzaki asked worriedly.

"She's kidding," Kimiko said, shooting Suki a look. "Gimme that." She snatched the concealer from Suki and twisted the bottom again. "Suki, make sure he doesn't escape."

"Right-o!" she said, walking around to stand at the side of the chair.

Kimiko leaned down closer to Ryuzaki, moving the concealer to his face.

Ryuzaki swallowed again.

"Oh, calm down," Kimiko said. "You're acting like this major surgery, or like you're in a horror movie or something."

_I think I must be,_ Ryuzaki thought. _A really bad horror movie called _Attack of the Makeup-Wielding Maniacs.

**;;;;;**

"What do you mean, there's no more?" Suki asked incredulously.

Kimiko turned the tube upside down, squinting up into it. "I mean it's all gone!"

"You mean you used it all and...?" Suki asked, gesturing to Ryuzaki's face.

"My eyes feel heavier, if that's any consolation," Ryuzaki said.

Kimiko sighed and hung her head, utterly defeated.

"What's wrong?" Ryuzaki asked.

Light shook his head. _Leave it to Kimiko and Suki to experiment with something like this_, he thought. _And of course they'd get a result like this._

"Take a look for yourself," Suki said, holding up a hand mirror.

Ryuzaki took it from her (holding it by the edges, of course), looking at his reflection.

The bags under his eyes were still there. In fact, they looked completely unchanged.

"It's like I just drew on his face with a white crayon!" Kimiko said, shocked that their experiment had failed. "It did _nothing_! No-thing!" she said, separating the word into two words.

"Does this stuff actually work for you?" Ryuzaki asked.

"Of course!" Kimiko said.

He handed the mirror back to Suki. "Well, I'm going to go wash this stuff off, if you don't mind." He hopped down from his chair, stuffing his hands in his pockets. Before he went over to the bathroom, he pulled one of his hands out of his pocket and patted Kimiko on the head. This was his version of offering comfort.

"This is ridiculous," Kimiko grumbled, looking at the empty tube. She turned it over and over in her hands, briefly scanning over the side effects and uses. All the stuff that was always printed too small to read, and was basically just there so you couldn't sue the company that made it because the warnings _were_ there, technically.

Then something caught her eye. She raised the tube up closer, straining to make out the tiny lettering.

_This concealer is not to be used for under-eye circles that are ever-present, and reoccuring. Be careful not to use too much concealer, as it may make your under-eye darkness look WORSE._

"You've got to be kidding me."

"What, the warnings?"

Kimiko snapped her head up to look at Suki. "What? ! You knew? !"

"Of course I did," Suki replied calmly.

"Then WHY did you go along with this plan? And let ME do this? !"

"'Cause there's nothing better to do around here," Suki said, shrugging.

Kimiko sighed heavily, facepalming and falling backward onto the carpet.

"You alright?"

Kimiko looked at Ryuzaki, then groaned, rolling over onto her stomach and burying her face in the carpet.

His under-eye circles looked lighter now...without the concealer.

**The second part of the warning Kimiko found was one that I actually read on the internet, and it seemed fitting to put it in here ^.^**

**Thoughts? Comments? I'd love to hear 'em! So click that button down there and leave me a little message!**

**Until next time :D**


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